Oil nearing $70 worries consumer nations, may hamper economic recovery

Consuming nations will bear the cost of pricier energy, potentially fanning inflation and hurting their recoveries

The spike in oil prices has focused attention on how the steady rise in energy costs is threatening to create a drag on the global economic recovery and stoking fears of inflation.

After surging more than 30 per cent this year on coordinated supply constraints by major exporters and demand returning from the depths of Covid-19 crisis, a missile attack Sunday on a key Saudi Arabian export facility sent Brent crude, the international benchmark, above $70 a barrel for the first time since January 2020.

While prices have since pulled back, the impact on inflation and the overall global recovery depends on